New 1,000 yd. Range in New Hampshire
As I'm on the hodge-podge email list I'm passing this on to all fellow Long Range Competitiors.

There are rumors going around that the Pemi Fish and Game Club, in Holderness, NH, is planning to build a 1,000-yard range. The rumors are true.

I have two reasons for sending this e-mail to shooters in New England. One is to let you know the real story about our efforts to build this new range (rumors have a way of distorting reality), and the other is to get a sense of your interest in it. At the end of this e-mail is a request to you to answer some questions.

First a little background. The Pemi (officially known as the Pemigewasset Valley Fish and Game Club, Inc.) is a private club in central New Hampshire. It owns 330 acres, and has several rifle ranges, a trap field, an indoor range, a great archery range, and a nice club house. It runs rifle matches, cowboy and IDPA shoots, silhouette matches, summer and winter biathlons, archery events, trap shoots. We host boy scout camping. We do some hunter education, some pistol and rifle instruction, and are affiliated with the CMP. For a sleepy looking club in a sleepy part of the state, a lot goes on.

The rifle range is currently 200 yards, and over the years there has been much talk about expanding it to 300 or 600 yards. The topography makes that tough where the existing range is, though, and we’ve never gotten much past the talk stage. Over the years, too, a few people have even thought about a 1,000-yard range. That never got past the talk stage either … until about 2 years ago when one club member was inspired enough to dig up some topo maps, find a possible spot, and drag a bunch of other club members out there to scout it out. And he was right: it looked like it might actually work.

So *this* time more than talk has happened. A little over a year ago we had the space clear cut. This spring and summer we did the wetlands delineation and then had a detailed survey done. Then we solicited and received bids do to the engineering/design work that will be needed to get the various environmental permits and to solicit bids for actual range construction. And finally, I’m going to ask the club’s board to make a choice on the bids at our board meeting in early December (and to allocate money for that design work).

That’s where we are. Of course, the big expensive step is construction, and is perhaps beyond the ability of the Pemi by itself. We expect to need to raise funds from outside. To that end, we really need to know how much interest there really is out there. So, what we’re doing is polling you, NE shooters, about various aspects of the project. Call it “market research”.

If you would take some time and answer these questions, it would be greatly appreciated. Send an e-mail to me at [email protected]. It would help if you would put something like “Pemi 1,000-yard range” in the Subject line.

1. The Pemi’s about 2 hours north of Boston, about 2 hours up I-93. If we ran a long-range match once a month (during the warm months!), would you make many of the matches? Would you come to 2 a month?
2. Would you prefer 1-day matches or 2-day matches?
3. We’re looking into electronic targets. As expensive as they are, that would save us the expense of building target carriers and putting in pits. Also, it would eliminate pit changes and the need to pull targets (or pay for target pullers). It would also eliminate the need to move back to each new distance (600, 800, 900, 1,000). There MAY be some loss of accuracy, and there may be some technical glitches from time to time. In your mind, would this be a good trade off? Would you be willing to pay a little more per match to avoid having to pull targets?
4. Would you be willing to make a contribution (not now, but when we get the permits) to the range’s construction costs whether as an outright gift or in the form of pre-paid membership fees or pre-paid match fees? What would be fair in your mind?
5. Do you know any die-hard shooters who just won the lottery? No? yeah, me neither. Do you have ideas about companies that might be worth approaching for donations?

I’d be eager to hear any other thoughts you have on this project. Thanks for your time.

Oh, one last request: please spread the word. This note is going to a hodge-podge of e-mail lists, but I’m certain not to all the long-range shooters in New England. Thanks.

Though I am a new hunter, I'm not a new shooter. I've visited many of gun ranges in my day. I understand that ranges have a bit of an overhead to keep it maintained, but why do they have to charge so much for a day of practicing.
It's not like they serve you lunch or drinks while you're out there, and they over charge you for any ammo that you may have to buy (if they have the right ammo to begin with). To me it should be free to use the range if you bring your own guns and ammo, unless it's an indoor range (which is only good for pistols and riot guns). I personally like stepping out my back door and blasting away at the targets in my yard. Some people like to go and meet other gun enthusiast, some just to watch others shoot. That's all good if you have the funds. As far as the thousand yard range, it's useless unless you are a practicing sniper then the your working for the government and they have their own ranges to train on. I wish you the best in your ventures.

To the second poster, WOW. Civilians don't need a 1000-yard range? Bet we don't need semi-automatic weapons in military calibers either, eh?

As for the range at the PEMI, we could use a 1000-yard range in the Northeast. Nashua, Reading and Scarborough are 600-only. There is a 600 at Camp Ethan Allen in Vermont (Bolton) and I hear there is a 1000 up there, but it wasn't used for the Vt State Championships. More places to shoot are better, especially to shoot long range.

What became of this 1000 yard range idea? I am considering a move from Alabama to NH as I am interviewing with a company up there and it would be nice to find a place to shoot. Can people still go out and shoot steel on the public hunting land? I'd like to find some 2000+ yard shots.

I'm a member of the Pemi club. The 1,000-yd range is currently on hold because the Club was unable to secure the necessary zoning OK from the Town of Holderness. I hear from time to time that there may be another attempt to move ahead, but have not seen anything definitive.

NH is still a great place to live, work, and shoot and Pemi is a great club, 1,000-yd range or not.

Though I am a new hunter, I'm not a new shooter. I've visited many of gun ranges in my day. I understand that ranges have a bit of an overhead to keep it maintained, but why do they have to charge so much for a day of practicing.
It's not like they serve you lunch or drinks while you're out there, and they over charge you for any ammo that you may have to buy (if they have the right ammo to begin with). To me it should be free to use the range if you bring your own guns and ammo, unless it's an indoor range (which is only good for pistols and riot guns). I personally like stepping out my back door and blasting away at the targets in my yard. Some people like to go and meet other gun enthusiast, some just to watch others shoot. That's all good if you have the funds. As far as the thousand yard range, it's useless unless you are a practicing sniper then the your working for the government and they have their own ranges to train on. I wish you the best in your ventures.

I pay $25 a year for my membership at a local 600yd range. this includes unlimited access and discounted match entry fees.

That's a bargain most ranges cost more. I am lucky to live in an area with lots of cheap empty land. Also, members keep costs low by volunteering their time to maintain the targets and build improvements to the range. Most areas are much more expensive to buy and maintain land for shooting ranges and, depending on the amenities, the upkeep cost can be substantial. it is unfortunate that many people must pay high prices, but not everyone can legally or safely walk out their back door and shoot. I can shoot on public land for free just outside of town, but I don't mind paying a few bucks for marked ranges, target stands, steel targets, permanent benches and shade... shade is a good one with 120+ degree summer days.

As for the distance... a 1000 yd is not useless if someone wants to shoot on it. obviously there are 1000 yd matches, so anyone who competes in those would need to practice... and compete. Even if you will never make a 1000 yd shot to take game, practicing at that range will hone your skill as a marksman making you more effective in the field at shorter ranges.

and despite all the drama of ultra long distance sniper shots, the average distance for a sniper engaging a subject is much less than that. I'm not sure about military snipers, but police snipers is under 100 yd... because of how much our military works in urban areas, I'd bet there average is not much higher. so yeah, of course a sniper will train on that 1000 yd range... but more than anything it helps them be more effective at every range

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